


Just Add Tequila

by DefineNormal



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Date, Light Angst, Margaritas, Pool Party, Rom-com, friends being supportive of friends, maybe tacos, peggysous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 12:40:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefineNormal/pseuds/DefineNormal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An hour didn’t give either much time to prepare and 6pm was well before the Los Angeles nightlife began to jump. It was a silent acknowledgement of their parallel fear that, should they put this night off any longer, something would occur to derail it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Add Tequila

**Author's Note:**

> Rated M for future chapter(s).

With bruised lips and matching smirks, Peggy and Daniel left the SSR and agreed to meet two hours later for dinner and drinks. With his lopsided grin just edging out a grimace, Daniel explained there would likely be no dancing. He rapped his knuckles on his crutch and shrugged apologetically. Peggy’s response was a mysterious and dangerous smile and a cryptic, “We shall see.”

Their fingers were twined tightly as they stood at the curb in silence, watching Los Angeles speed by.  They didn’t speak of of anything of consequence as they waited and when the yellow cab stopped in front of them, they released one another reluctantly.

An hour didn’t give either much time to prepare and 6pm was well before the Los Angeles nightlife began to jump. It was a silent acknowledgement of their parallel fear that, should they put this night off any longer, something would occur to derail it.

Three hours, one lifetime. 2800 miles. A new life, a new fiancee…

A rift in the very fabric of existence.

So much time wasted. They would not squander another moment.

* * *

Peggy arrived back on Howard Stark’s front porch, bags in hand, looking both sheepish and defiant. Ever the professional, Jarvis managed to hide his surprise when he opened the door. Peggy dropped her sunglasses to the tip of her nose to give the unusually smug butler a hard look as he reached for her bags. She thought it would be enough to deter him, but he had become frustratingly immune to her temper.

“So you’ve found a compelling reason to stay.” He was careful to frame it as a statement rather than a question. Jarvis backed through the door to her room and set her bags down.

Peggy responded with silence and when he turned to look at her, she was twisting her glasses in her hands. Her eyes skimmed the walls, over the empty dresser, out the window, across the bed and back to the ceiling, skipping nervously. She coughed, clasped her hands behind her back and finally met Jarvis’ gaze.

Her dark eyes softened and her red lips turned up at the corners. She was nervous, perhaps, but happy as well. Content, even.

“A very good reason.” She admitted in a way that made it seem less confession and more statement of fact. It occurred to Jarvis, belatedly, that this would her first real attempt at a relationship since Steve Rogers. The hint of fear edging her bravado was genuine. Her bruised heart was still tender and she guarded it vigorously. He, himself, had given it a few whacks when they were alone in the desert. He would never forgive himself for dealing such blows to her - someone who had been nothing but faithful to him and his wife. She had opened up to him once about her fears and in a fit of weakened madness, he used that knowledge against her. He wounded her deeply, as keenly if he had slipped a knife between her shoulder blades. And yet she’d forgiven him and, even more stunning, allowed him another small peek into her anxiety.

Acknowledging her discomfort, Jarvis swallowed back the good natured jape and instead reached to press his fingers to her wrist. Silent support was best and dictated by their very British stiff upper lips.

“Whatever you need, Miss Carter, I’m just down the hall.”

“Thank you, Mr Jarvis.” She replied, and her impossibly strong shoulders, the ones on which she tended to carry the weight of the world, squared. “I’ll be fine. If I need anything, I’ll let you know.”

* * *

One of Peggy’s many gifts was her ability to dress quickly. Years of service meant she outfitted herself in whatever the coming battle required. Less fashion and more armor, each piece of her wardrobe served a purpose. However standing in her bedroom she was racked with indecision. She was not dressing for an operation, she was dressing for Daniel. Sweet-eyed, wicked-tongued Daniel.

And while she knew he, as a male of the species, would appreciate her in anything...she still wanted to make an effort.

Heat prickled along her skin when she thought of him and the strength in his hands as he held her close. The warmth as he murmured in her hair. Peggy was used to being watched - a female agent in a man’s world, she was used to a level of thoughtless perusal. But Daniel wasn’t thoughtless...Daniel didn’t simply look. Daniel _saw_. A flush crept up her chest and into her cheeks. The corner of her lips turned up in perfect tandem with her arching eyebrow.

As with any good mission, the best course of action would be to dress from the inside out.

For Daniel.

_To see._

**Author's Note:**

> I’m taking one night for Peggy and Daniel. In my world, Jack was shot but not killed. It took a while for him to be found and to get him to the hospital. In an age of no cellphones, we’re going to pretend it took them more than a few hours to get everything sorted, including who they should contact. Local authorities, then new york authorities and then the SSR and then...you get the picture. FOR ONE WHOLE NIGHT, Peggy and Daniel don’t have the weight of the world on them. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.


End file.
